Bothriopsis

Bothriopsis taeniata smaragdinus

The forest Terciopelos ( Bothriopsis ) are a snake genus of the subfamily of pit vipers. The genus occurs with six species in northern South America, four of the six species are restricted to the mountains there. All species are bound to the forest and arboreal. The species are poisonous. The bite often leads people to severe poisoning, but deaths are rare.

Features

Physique

Forest Terciopelos are medium to large, relatively slender pit vipers. The head is relatively narrow and not very clearly set off from the neck, the muzzle is slightly pointed. The canthus is markedly pronounced. The pupil is vertically elliptical. The tail is marked in adaptation to life in trees and as long prehensile tail. The smallest species usually reach total lengths of 50-70 cm, the largest species (B. taeniata ) usually remains below 100 cm, but can reach a maximum of 175 cm.

Squamation

The rostral is as high as or higher than wide. The animals usually show 5-9 large head shields. The number of supralabials is 6 to 9, the number of Infralabialia 8 to 12 The number of ventral scales ( Ventralschilde ) varies 153-254, the number of usually divided Subcaudalia 41-91 and the number of dorsal scale rows in the middle of the body between 19 and 29

Coloring

The animals are very well camouflaged because of their cryptic coloration on branches and the foliage. The color is very variable in many species, but usually at least partially green. Show on This is why the animals are often bright or dark drawings.

Distribution and habitat

Forest Terciopelos live in northern South America. Four of the six species occur in the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia and are confined there on the mountains. Two species (B. bilineata and B. taeniata ) colonize the lowlands of the upper Amazon, and, spatially almost completely separated, the Atlantic near lowlands in northeastern South America. B. taeniata also comes before even in the coastal forests of eastern Brazil.

All species are bound to the forest and arboreal; inhabit moist, tropical forests of the rain forest to cloud forest.

System

• Bothriopsis bilineata (Wied - Neuwied, 1821 )
• Bothriopsis chloromelas ( Boulenger 1912)
• Bothriopsis medusa ( Sternfeld 1920)
• Bothriopsis oligolepis ( Werner, 1901)
• Bothriopsis pulchra (Peters 1863)
• Bothriopsis taeniata ( Wagler 1824)

A molecular genetic analysis of the genus, including all six species is not present previously, formerly three species were examined. The results so far suggest a monophyly of the genus Bothriopsis, but the genus Bothrops is paraphyletic with the inclusion of the genus Bothriopsis. A final clarification of the systematic position of the genus Bothrops to is still pending.

Lifestyle, diet, and reproduction

All species of the genus are arboreal. Where known, the animals are mostly nocturnal and spend the day curled up hidden in the foliage; However, a diurnal activity is suspected due to the low night temperatures there for some poorly understood species of the Andes. These snakes primarily eat small vertebrates such as frogs, small lizards, birds and small mammals, yet once even centipedes were detected as food. For several species, the attraction of prey was detected with the pink colored tail end both in young animals and in adult snakes. All species are viviparous, when the pups are born, has barely been investigated. Between 5 and 17 pups per litter are been established.

Poison

All species are poisonous, the bite often leads people to severe poisoning. Typical symptoms after a bite include local swelling and bruising, severe bleeding disorders and spontaneous bleeding. However, deaths are very rare, at least for timely medical treatment.